Have a story you need some level of help on? I offer reading, proofreading, and editing services depending on your needs. I’ve worked with fiction and academic papers, and consult style manuals as necessary or based on particular request for Chicago, APA, AMA, or other guides. I work in Word documents using Track Changes and Comments features, saved with an iterative file name to make it easy to keep track of edits. I’ll work with just about any genre or style, including adult content, with only a few exceptions.
For rates listed below, a page is a standard manuscript length of 250 words.
Beta Reading – $1.00/page
Short on a writing group and just want some basic feedback? I’ll take on your story and give it a general read-through, adding comments and writing up a summary of what’s good and what needs work, separated as is possible into subjective and objective issues. This does not include grammar correction or full content edits and is the most basic service.
Proofreading – $2.00/page
This is the most surface level of real adjustment. I’ll go through your work and make sure you have commas in the right places, double-check spelling issues, work on other punctuation, and generally clean up the cosmetic grammar of the piece. In this I may also add a comment or two if I notice a glaring inconsistency or something that needs work. Overall, though, this doesn’t include any editing for content or wording; it’s just making sure what you already have will look nice on the page.
Copy Editing – $3.50/page
This involves going a bit deeper into the work. I’ll fix grammar errors and punctuation issues, and I’ll also help correct awkward phrasing or inconsistencies in your work. Some of this will be done with rewriting line edits, while some issues will just be noted with comments and suggestions offered. We can talk about which style you prefer during initial contact.
Content Editing – $7.00/page
A lot more work and effort goes into this level of editing. I’ll treat the work as if I were going to be publishing it myself in an anthology or other medium. This will include extensive rewrites and adjustments as necessary in addition to the other clean-up work mentioned above. Most writers probably won’t need this level of change, but for those that know they have brilliant concepts with some trouble in execution, I’m here to help.
Rush Jobs – Extra $0.50/page
If you need me to bump other jobs and complete your edits immediately—and if I’m available—I’ll do it for the per-page up-charge listed above. Rush Jobs are available for works under 10,000 words. Once confirmed, they can usually be completed in 24-48 hours.
I accept PayPal primarily, though I am open to other forms of payment that can be discussed.
For further information and discussion of what you’ll need, send an email to editing@markwcoulter.com with a brief description of the service level you want and what you’ll be sending my way.